Mississippi Past Continues to Haunt It Present Day
by NASCARLUCY
Summary: A movie is made about two women  one white, one African-American Civil Rights activists, both were accused of murders they didn't commit.  One was lynched, the other was put in prison.
1. Chapter 1

Lila Archer was in rural Mississippi acting in a film which was nearly complete. In the film she portrayed a young woman Thelma Wilson who lived in a small Mississippi town and who was accused of witchcraft, and then later arrested for practicing witchcraft and using it to murder Pastor Marshall Woods and his wife Melinda in 1960.

An African-American woman Minnie Williams who was Thelma's maid was also accused of practicing witchcraft with Thelma, 2 counts of murder, and for accessory after the fact (helping covering up the evidence of the murder) Minnie was dragged out of her home severely beaten and then shot dead in the downtown square while townspeople clapped and cheered. She never had her day in court. Her children, her husband and her parents were forced to watch the execution.

Thelma who witnessed Minnie's execution was then taken to the county jail. She was tried, convicted and given the death penalty for the two murders. Her death sentence was overturned and she was sentenced to life in prison. In 1972 a death bed confession overturned Thelma's conviction. She was released after spending 13 years in prison.

Thelma Wilson was 29 years old in 1962. Her husband had died suddenly the year before and many people believed she was responsible for his death, even though an autopsy said that he died of a heart attack. Thelma's in laws who didn't like her believed that she had something to do with his death. This is where the accusations of witchcraft started.

Thelma Wilson believed in civil rights for everyone and was not afraid to express her opinion. She spoke in favor of schools and other places to be integrated and spoke out against racism. Because of her beliefs, many of her neighbors would have nothing to do with her and she was considered to be an outcast. Several family members refused to have anything to do with her.

An Editorial in the Oxen Times spoke about the movie.

Many people in Mississippi were not happy about the film and believed it portrayed the state in a bad light. They said although the events depicted in the movie were true, they (those who killed Minnie Williams and had Thelma Wilson falsely imprisoned for over 10 years) didn't represent the people of Mississippi. This was despite the fact that the judge who sentenced her to death became governor of the state three years later and the prosecutor was later elected to the US Senate.

Both men as well as the town knew who murdered Minnie Williams. A recording and film footage of the actual execution had become public. Although most of those who participated in the murders were dead, one or two of them were still alive and now the Attorney General of Mississippi and the FBI field office in Jackson was investigating the matter.

When Lila read the editorial, it sounded more like a news report on the event. There wasn't really an opinion on it although letters to the editor had plenty to say about her.

"Lila Archer is just an example of Hollywood and the County gone amok. Back in the day, women got married and then they had children, not the other way around." Said one Letter.

"Another Hollywood Celeb having a child out of wedlock. Wouldn't it be nice if anyone got married these days? What about the baby's father? Who is he or perhaps because Lila Archer had been with many different men, she doesn't even know or perhaps he's a married man. In the old days, women were virgins prior to marriage and expected to be. I'm a proud 30 year old virgin who plans to wait till marriage." said another letter.

Lila frowned when she read the letter. She wasn't too surprised at the name. Sally Hatcher.

This woman who was a fellow student and her mother complained to the school board back when Lila was in high school that the Cheerleaders outfits was too sexy. Because of her, the Cheerleaders were forced to wear outfits that were outdated. At the dance competition, they were laughed at (all the other times were dressed in what they had), and lost the dance competition which they had won three years in a row. They got a low score for dress that was dated. Because of this outrage was directed against Sally Hatcher for the lost competition. The next year she was overruled.

Lila was born in Mississippi and was the great-niece of Thelma Wilson. She went over to her Great Aunt's home after filming had been done for the day. Thursday was art gallery day in the same town of Oxen, Mississippi. They attended the event together.

While the movie was being filmed, Lila had brought along her four month old infant whom she breastfed in between takes. Four month old Hannah had adapted very well.

Hannah became fussy just before the art gallery program started. Lila waited till the officer left to breastfeed Hannah.

"Does anyone mind if I breastfeed Hannah. Otherwise she'd going to start screaming and crying and I'd rather not have that."

"We'd better ask morality police officer Sally Hatcher first." Said someone in the group.

Everyone in the room laughed.

"She doesn't have anything better to do than to criticize you Lila. She's jealous of you. She's never had a boyfriend to my knowledge and I can't imagine any man wanting to be her boyfriend, even in this conservative town. Can you imagine any man sleeping with her or having sex with her? Gross. Gross. Gross. She's probably never have sex which frustrates her. Can't imagine still being a virgin at age 30. That must be very frustrating to say the least. Most women have found a man by that time."

Everyone in the room broke into laughter at the comments Lila's ex-boyfriend made about Sally Hatcher.

There were about 30 people who were in attendance. No one objected so Lila went to the corner of the room took her shirt off and breastfeed Hannah while her ex-boyfriend Mark Webster who owned the gallery spoke about his paintings.

The groups in attendance were liberal progressive thinking people in a mostly conservative town who didn't particularly like their values, their beliefs or their art work.

Mark Webster was very careful about what he exhibited In Oxen and in Mississippi. He had an art studio in New Orleans where he was freer to exhibit what he wanted. None of the exhibits that he had in Mississippi could be considered to be obscene, sexually explicit, or un-American.

From time to time and usually before the art gallery program, a law enforcement officer would come by say hello and say he was patrolling the area. At first Mark Webster resented this but came to realize that it would help him if he became friends with the police or allowed them to get to know him. He welcomed them to his art gallery programs. Perhaps they would see that he was not a threat to the community or wasn't trying to do anything harmful. After several years, he'd made friends with most of the law enforcement community.

Shortly after Lila started breastfeeding a female officer came into the gallery. Lila knew her as she was a former classmate.

"I'm really sorry to bother you Lila but someone has complained about you breast feeding in a public place."

"Let me guess. Miss Hatcher woman again. How does she even know I'm breast feeding?"

"Well, I'm sorry but this time I will have to write you a citation Lila because you've been warned and were warned earlier today."

"Okay but let me finish breastfeeding her in the bathroom and I will sign the citation."

The officer waited and about 5 minutes later, Lila came back out and the officer wrote her a citation and then left. Lila didn't look happy about it.

A couple of weeks earlier Mark Webster noticed something which looked odd near one of his clocks. He called the police and they discovered that someone had put a bug in his art gallery. It didn't take long to figure out who was doing this. He chuckled to himself knowing that the person that did this would be caught red handed. So did Lila when she came out of the bathroom. The person doing this probably was delighted that Lila got a citation. She wouldn't be delighted when police came to her door later that night.

After the art gallery program Lila went over to the house of Mark Webster. Her aunt went home. Many people in town believed that Mark Webster was the father of Lila's baby. Lila had openly denied this but still refused to name the father. It had been a long time since she had talked to Mark.

"So Nathan has never been to Mississippi?" asked Lila.

"Can you blame him Lila? Not exactly a friendly place for people who are gay."

"Well, you still here?" smiled Lila.

"You know, Lila I thought about leaving a long time ago but then I thought no way. I was born and raised in Mississippi and why should I leave because people can't accept me."

It was well known in the town that Mark Webster was gay. Back in high school people suspected it, including Lila. Back then Mark and Lila were a couple but they were very different than most couples. Mark never pressured Lila to have sex with him like the other guys did with their girlfriends. They didn't have sex until after they graduated from high school. When they went to Ole Miss for college, they were a couple. Mark had even gotten her an engagement ring right before they graduated. The only reason he had was because most of the women in Lila's sorority had gotten engagement rings. It was a way of trying to fit in.

"I'm just curious. Did Hannah's father attend the birth?"

"No, he didn't."

"I know you said you told him, but how did that go?"

"It's hard to say. It's really hard to say." Said Lila.

Hannah's father hadn't signed the birth certificate even though he'd said he would. Lila sent him a picture of Hannah but hadn't heard anything back.

Police had gone to Sally Hatcher's home to question her about the bug she had planted in Mark Webster's art gallery. They were surprised to see what looked like a fire in a bedroom upstairs. No answer at the door. They tried to call Sally but got no answer. Fire units were dispatched and arrived within a minute. The firefighters broke down the door and ran up the stairs. So did Lila who joined them. Mark was outside holding Hannah. The firefighters and the police got the shock of their lives when they opened the door and saw Sally Hatchett in bed having sex with Congressman Stickman.


	2. Chapter 2

On the table was a prescription bottle of birth control pills which Sally Hatchet had gotten at a drug store in Jackson, a box of condoms, sex toys including a vibrator. There was also a prescription bottle of Viagra.

There was a TV screen which showed Mark Jones whose home was a couple of houses down in the front porch with Hannah in his lap. Proof of not only bugging Mark's studio but the front porch of his home.

It was all Lila could do not to burst into laughter. She could not believe what she was seeing. Congressman Stickman was in his late-60's and was married. He prided himself of being the "family values Congressman from Mississippi." He was one of those who made an issue about Lila having a child out of wedlock. He accused her of being a selfish woman and only thinking about herself. He also accused her of being anti-family and hating fathers.

News crews had started to come into the area. Congressman Stickman had been caught with his pants down. Sally Hatchet had been caught in the act, literally. Police had executed the search warrant to find the bug.

Lila went downstairs and told the news reporter everything that she saw in the room. When the Congressman came out of the house, he tried to cover his face.

"Congressman Stickman, Lila Archer just told us that she saw you having sex with Sally Hatchet. Is that true?"

The Congressman didn't answer as he quickly got to his car and left.

Sally Hatchet face was red with embarrassment as she came out of the house.

"Sally, Lila told us that you bugged Mark's art gallery. Is this true? It is also true that you are Congressman Stickman's lover?"

She said nothing and calmly went to the police station. A couple of hours later she was booked for illegal wiretapping.

The next day the story made headlines all over Mississippi and the United States.

Mark got a call from Nathan saying that he would like to come to Mississippi to visit him.


	3. Chapter 3

Lila had dinner with Nathan and Mark at his home. The meal was fresh Salmon with rice and mixed vegetables.

"You knew Spencer Reid." Said Lila.

"Yea, I knew him. We were roommates in college and then roommates at the FBI academy."

"You're not an FBI agent are you Nathan?"

"Nope, wasn't my cup of tea?"

"Well, I met him when the BAU was working on a case."

"Yea, I remember vaguely. You were stalked."

"Yea, I was unfortunately but that's over with, thank god."

"Nathan and I are going to Jackson tomorrow to look at some art galleries."

"Well, that's great."

They talked some more and after about an hour Lila left.

Lila went over to their house later in the day but they weren't home. Nathan's car was gone so Lila assumed they took his car. About 11:00 p.m. she heard the car pull in and assumed they were home. The next morning she went over to the house and no one was home. A car was parked in the driveway but it wasn't Nathan's. They weren't at the art gallery. Lila called and text messaged Mark to no avail. She walked over to the car and smelled something awful. She called police. The bodies of Mark Jones and Nathan were found. Both of them had been badly beaten and then shot in the head. It was evident that this was a hate crime.

This story overtook the story of the Congressman and Sally Hatcher in the headlines.


	4. Chapter 4

The BAU team arrived in Mississippi about 24 hours after the murders of Mark Jones and Nathan. Spencer Reid was still getting over the shook of learning that his old friend Nathan was dead. He had told Hotch that he knew Nathan. Hotch then took him but allowed him to come along and observe what was going on. Officially he wasn't on the case but he was helping out.

When they came to Oxen, they were greeted by Police Chief James Green who briefed them on the situation.

"Four similar type murders have occurred in different parts of Mississippi over the last 2 days. However, this murder was different as the other murder victims were married couples who were heterosexual. One thing though ties them together (strong opinions about same-sex marriage). The 3 married couples who were murdered had expressed very strong opinions against same-sex marriage and against people who were gay. In Mississippi Mark Jones was openly gay and had spoken in favor of it. We don't know that much about Nathan who reportedly his long-distance partner was."

Lila was sitting outside on the front porch watching the BAU team as they spoke with the police chief across the street. Her eyes were red from crying. She was trying to comfort Hannah who had been crying most of the night. Without warning, Hannah let out a high pitched scream. She had her little hands in a balled fist like she was in severe distress.

The team turned around and looked at her. She quickly went inside.

About a half and hour later, there was a knock on the door. Standing in the doorway was Spencer Reid. He told Lila they needed to talk.

It had been several months since Lila saw him. She had been in Washington D.C. and had seen Spencer Reid at a fund raiser for victims of stalking. After the fund raiser they had gone to a Jazz Club and had several drinks. She didn't remember much of the evening except waking up in his apartment, in his bed. He had no memory of what had happened that night. 

Shortly after that encounter, Lila wasn't surprised when she found out she was pregnant. She wasn't always careful about using birth control. She told Reid who didn't react at all to the news that he was going to become a father. He wasn't angry and he wasn't thrilled about it either. He hadn't sign the birth certificate or acknowledged that he was the father until a couple of hours earlier. He had called Lila to tell her the news.

The baby had been born in Mississippi. Sometimes Lila wished the child was born in LA. Everyone had an opinion about Lila and her baby. For several weeks this was the main topic of conversation. Of course, everyone had an opinion (the politicians put their two cents in as did the political pundits and everyone else).

"You get married and then you have children. Lila probably doesn't know who the father of her child is. She's had many partners over the years. That's the proper order of things but no one in Lila Archer's family has any type of morals or values. Her parents were leftist hippies, her grandfather was a socialist and Thelma Wilson, her aunt is a communist and an extreme left winger….

In disgust Lila turned off the radio. Hannah had stopped crying and was smiling at Lila.

"Hannah, this is you're father Spencer Reid."

Hannah looked at Reid, smiled and reached out her hands like she already knew him.

Reid declined when Lila asked him if he wanted to hold her.

He smiled at Hannah and said hello to her. She took her tiny hands and wrapped them around his finger and smiled.

"I'm sorry about your friend Mark."

"I can't believe he's dead."

"Do you know who might try to harm him?"

"There's a long list of people in Mississippi who hate him, very long list. Most of it has to do with his sexual orientation. He's probably the only gay person in Mississippi who has been so outspoken. I can tell you two people that I know who hate him, Congressman Stickman and Barbara Hatcher."

"Well Barbara Hatcher is out because she spent the night in jail and guesses who bonded her out. Congressman Stickman's wife. "Said Reid.

"You have got to be kidding me. Are you serious Spencer?"

"Yes, Lila I am. The Congressman is out as far as a suspect because he went straight home to his wife (the press followed him home and camped out in front of his home).

A couple of days later Reid finally signed the birth certificate. It was hardly noticed.


	5. Chapter 5

Lila and her great aunt Thelma took care of Mark Webster's funeral arrangements. A private funeral for Mark Webster was held in the Oxen funeral home. The service was held about 4 days after the murder. Since Oxen was a small town, there wasn't a venue large enough to hold those who wanted to attend his funeral. Police and law enforcement shut down the main street going into town. A You tube video was made of the funeral and then released. Lila and her friends who attended the private funeral were given their privacy. None of Mark's family came. They had disowned him years ago.

Spencer Reid had gone to New Orleans where he attended Nathan's funeral. Nathan's death was a real shock to him. Reid had seen many dead bodies before but he had to look away when he saw Nathan at the viewing. The viewing and service was held at a funeral home. Unlike Mark Webster whose family had disowned him years before, all of Nathan's family and friends were there.

He arrived back in Oxen, Mississippi as the funeral of Mark Webster was ending. Lila was carrying the car seat with Hannah in it back to the car to take the drive to the cemetery. Hannah woke up and screamed. Then she started crying with high pitch screams. Lila put her into the car. Spencer Reid had just arrived and got in the car with her. He offered to drive the car while Lila tried everything to calm Hannah down but she was hysterical. When they reached the cemetery, she calmed down and went to sleep. Reid stayed in the car with her as he watched from a distance what was going on.

Hannah woke up looked at Reid and smiled. Reid knew that she recognized him.

They was a small get together afterwards which was held in Thelma Wilson's home. Within an hour, the guests had pretty much left. Thelma had a flight to New York and had left right after the get together. Reid and Lila were alone in the house. Hannah had been put to bed. It was about 5:00 p.m. in the evening.

It finally hit Lila like a ton of brinks that Mark was gone. She started to sob. Reid tried to comfort her but to no avail. She buried her face in his chest sobbing and sobbing. Reid kissed her forehead. She went upstairs and went to bed. Reid was so tired he fell asleep on the couch downstairs.

Hotch came by around 11:00 p.m. to see if Reid was at Lula's home. He was concerned as Reid should have been back at the motel several hours earlier. He saw Reid sleeping on the couch from the front porch. Reid got up and then left.

The next day

"Well Lila, the 4 other murders in Mississippi have been solved and they had nothing to do with Mark and Nathan's murders. The person who murdered these couples tried to make it look like it had something to do with their political beliefs but it didn't. The suspect was in jail on another charge when Mark and Nathan were murdered." Said Spencer Reid.

The two were sitting in the back yard eating some of the leftovers from the get together. Lila knew that she was being watched and so did Spencer Reid. Otherwise the two would have been in the swimming pool skinny dipping and doing some other things that they'd been thinking doing about for a couple of days.

Lila was quite sad when Reid left the next day. She drove him to the Jackson Airport.

After about a week the BAU left town. They had very little to go on for the killer of Mark and Nathan. The town had a sense of uneasiness because many people thought that the killer of the men was someone who lived in town. Thelma Wilson felt very uneasy as she had a bad feeling that the killer wasn't finished. Lila had the same feeling. They didn't feel safe in the house. Shortly thereafter, Thelma left to go to New York; Lila went back to LA to live.

About two months after leaving Mississippi, Thelma Wilson died. A service was held in New York but not Mississippi. Lila went back to Oxen to settle her aunt's estate. She made sure she was surrounded by people. That night the house was set on fire. Lila was three hours away in Jackson. She received a threatening note. The writer threatened to kill her if she ever set foot in Oxen again. Lila knew that the killer had written the letter.


	6. Chapter 6

Five years had passed. The murders had not been solved nor had the arson case been solved. Lila had not been back to Mississippi since. This was the longest amount of time that she had ever been out of the state. She visited about twice a year prior to the murders. No one in her family lived in Mississippi. The ones who were still alive lived elsewhere.

A lot of things had happened. Congressman Stickman had been forced to resign over the sex scandal. His wife later divorced him and Sally Hatcher ended up spending five years in a federal prison for wiretapping. The Congressman had basically gotten away with the crime (he was involved in the wiretapping and had the means to do it) and had basically pointed the finger at Sally. He was believed and she wasn't.

Lila and Reid had tried marriage but it didn't work out for them. While married, they had another child, a son named Daniel. They had a long distance relationship which worked out fine.

The murder of Nathan and Mark was something that really eats at Reid. The killer wasn't found and the FBI started to feel the political heat from it. The FBI was accused by some as not trying hard enough to find the killer due to the sexual orientation of the victims. Hotch stated the police department in Oxen had fully cooperated with them and had not left any stone unturned.

Hotch never told the public that his office received a card on the anniversary of the killings taunting them for not finding the killer. It was a very frustrating case. It had been profiled on America's Most Wanted and on Unsolved Mysteries but no good leads had panned out.

Twenty years later

The murders were finally solved. The son of Congressman Stickman also with two other men had committed the murders. Nathan and Mark had been abducted while shopping in Jackson and had been taken out to an isolated area where they were beaten severely and then shot in the head. The bodies had been left in the isolated area and then later taken away in a stolen car that was taken back to their residence.

After Reid put her under hypnosis, Lila remembered being awakened around 11:00 p.m. by a car down slamming. She looked out the window from her bed and saw someone get out of the car and walk down the block. The man Walter Stickman was the son of Congressman Stickman. She was so tired that she went back to bed. Walter later thought that she might have seen something and started sending her threatening letter.


End file.
